Tuesday Tabletop Kickstarter Update – Get Your Name on a Box!

Welcome to another Kickstarter Update! Sorry this is belated. There were some technical difficulties, up to and including a backhoe and a jackhammer. If you want to know more about what we are doing here, check out this intro. Without further adieu, here are some games you still have time to check out:

Remember that I am in no way endorsing these games, I have not played them, I have not talked to the publishers. Back at your own risk.

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Pull
Apparent Weight: Light-Medium
Genre: Trick Taking Game

I really like what Chevee has to say about the importance of fun in the intro video. Pull melds traditional trick taking games (think Hearts and/or Spades) with clay target shooting. Fun looking, light, inexpensive game.

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Yardmaster
Aparent Weight: Medium Light
Genre: Resource Management Card Game

What caught my eye initially was Yardmaster’s bold and colorful art, but upon further inspection, the game looks just as interesting. Players compete to load the most resources on to their own rail cars. I would love to give this one a try.

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Rise to Power
Apparent Weight: Medium
Genre: City Building Card Game

I know I am hitting the card games heavy this week, but they all looked so good! One thing I really look forward to in card games is when the designer utilizes cards in less than traditional ways. In Rise to Power building cards link together with the building cards next to them, and have a double sided nature to them. A little more of a strategy game than the previous two, well worth taking a look at.

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Pyg Farmer
Apparent Weight: Meduim
Genre: Eurogame mash up

I am kind of surprised that Pyg Farmer is not doing as well as they are. It seems like they have a very interesting and amusing looking game put together at a reasonable price. Taking many of the mechanics we know and love from Eurogames, Pyg Farmer pits players as rivals trying to complete for different goals. It may be a long shot, but you can help them get out of their funding lump.

 

Reflecting on the Virtues of: Backer Name Lists
Weekly thoughts on the world of Tabletop Kickstarter

It may seem as though I am pessimistic about the whole Kickstarter thing. That I have been burned by a few bad apples and now see things through a cynical lens. While that may be partially true, there are some superb side effects to the Kickstarter life. One of my favorites is the inclusion of backer lists on the side of game boxes.

In what seems like a passing trend, some game publishers offer to put a giant list of their backer’s names on the side of the final game box. The list serves as a lasting and semi-public Thank You to all of the people “Who made the game possible.” While they are nice, online thank you lists are not quite the same. There is something permanent about the list being printed on the game itself.

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Thinking back to our conversation about exclusives, this is one of the easiest ways a publisher can offer something to backers without actually giving up or paying for anything. No one particularly cares about what is on the inside edges of a game box, unless, of course, it is their name. And what we get out of it as backers is a little bit of personal pride and ownership. Sure we didn’t really do all that much, but it is a good feeling to be recognized, even in 1mm tall letters.

Last week someone purchased a Kickstarter edition of OGRE at my local gaming store. While they were punching out the 100s of cardboard pieces, I noticed that the behemoth box was covered in names. All 5,512 people who backed the project had their name printed on the side of the box. In addition to thanking the backers, each person on the side is reminded that they are part of something bigger. That they are linked to the other thousands of names on the box. That is worth something. The names make the whole endeavor seem so grand and momentous.

I really do wish this was a more popular trend. I see publishers pushing hard to get games off to the printer right after a campaign is over, but I wish they would take the time to put together such a simple gesture. What is more inclusive than scribing your backers names on the very game they are backing?

If you have any games with your name on them, I want to see them! Send me a pic @Scooter_TTTD

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